Aetna Can’t Get Supreme Court Review of NY Insurance Law

A New York law making it harder for insurers to claw back previously paid benefits won’t be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A federal appeals court ruled in June that the law isn’t pre-empted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act. As a result, Aetna Life Insurance Co. was blocked from offsetting a New York man’s disability benefits to account for money he received in an $850,000 personal injury settlement.

Under the New York law, personal injury settlements are “conclusively presumed” not to include compensation for amounts that must be paid by an insurer. The law’s goal is ...